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Jimmy Anderson vs dale Steyn

Who is better test bowler?

  • Total voters
    19
Coronis

Coronis

International Coach
DrWolverine said:
If Pollock was born in UK, he would have played 150 Tests in 13 years and would have ended up with around 600+ wickets to be “one of the greatest ever”
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Tbh, he only played 108/137 available tests for SA. England played 155 during that period so really he only missed a possible ~20 tests

Australia also played 143 tests in that period.


Compare that to today… Rabada for example. He’s played 70 of a possible 80 tests since his debut 9 years ago. England have played 118 in that period, 20 test lead over any other country in just 9 years.
 
P

PlayerComparisons

International Captain
Coronis said:
Tbh, he only played 108/137 available tests for SA. England played 155 during that period so really he only missed a possible ~20 tests

Australia also played 143 tests in that period.


Compare that to today… over the last 13 years England have played 166 tests, Australia 131 and India 127.
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How many have SA played over the last 13 years?
 
Silver Silva

Silver Silva

International Regular
sams daneal said:
It is quite surprising that all are voting for Steyn who has only 400 wickets compared to a bowler who has 700 wickets.
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Because you are comparing Anderson to an elite bowler , the criticism is going to be harsh because the standard is high ..It's like comparing your local cartel drug dealer to Walter White on purity for methamphetamine products.
 
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Rob Wesley

School Boy/Girl Captain
Steyn is better. He thrived in batting friendly era of 2000s and first hal

Anderson improved with age and was excellent post 2010 but 2014-2022 is a bowling friendly era and his overall record vs top nations is a lot worse than any ATG bowler that has played the game.

Donald and Pollock have phenomenal record vs everyone but even they get bashed for performing poorly vs or in Australia.

Hence Anderson’s performance vs top opponents are not great to put him in top tier purely on quantity of wickets.
 
R

Randomfan

U19 12th Man
sams daneal said:
Jimmy Anderson Unmatchable longevity vs prime of Steyn?
Who is better?
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Thanks for opening a dedicated thread instead of discussing it in another one. Here are some of the reasons fans will rate Steyn is different tier than Steyn.

  • Steyn being great pretty much entire career versus Anderson being good after 40-50 tests. Many bowlers even get dropped during this 40-50 tests and never play after that.
  • If you want to give credit to Anderson for extraordinary longevity then you got to take his entire career and then compare, otherwise you can take his best phase and then compare. In career, difference is large one in away.
1738615770649.png

You may focus on Avg od 24 and avg of 30. Sure it's a large difference, but I will ask you to shift attention to SR.


You can see, in entire career, Anderson and Zaheer's numbers are close and Zaheer played entire career in batsmen friendly pitches. Pitches became more bowler friendly after 2014. And yet, Zaheer is striking much faster than Anderson so it means Anderson was very good in holding role. It's also visible in his low ER, but SR of mid 60s means you are not going to threaten much. Batsmen can see you off. Not saying that Zaheer was in Anderson class , making a point about Anderson's weakness away. You will notice the same trend if you take his better phase specially against top teams. He does not have a great SR in any phase in playing away agaisnt good teams. He did not strike quick enough but good with holding role. Anderson was not that great earlier but to make the same point, Anderosn and Steyn played 9 tests together. Anderson was striking 80-90 balls per wicket in those tests.

Steyn was given some of the flatest pitches when he was touring. He was a stand out pacer for a very long time, but that's not the case with Anderson.

You can also see how Steyn and Anderson did in tests involving top 6 teams:

1738617335462.png


Career output of Anderson was at the same level as Broad in this sample set but if you compare with Steyn then Steyn was striking at 43 and Anderosn at 59. It again highlights difference between these two bowlers. If it does not catch your attention, pay attention to 5-fers per test for both.

Steyn : 66 tests and 18 5-fers [ A 5-fer each 3.6 tests ]
Anderson : 147 tests and 21 5-fers [ A 5-fer each 7 tests ]

If you chose, you can take only the best phase of Anderson after 2010. Keep it mind that pitches started becoming more friendly to bowlers after 2014. And yet, you will find out that Steyn entire career output was better than Anderson's better phase.

I will put Steyn as top 5-7 pacers and Anderson as the top 15-25. Range is bigger for Anderson becauase I have not given much thought but he surely makes it in top 25 and I doubt I can make a very strong case for top 15.
 
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